NFL.com prediction: Ken Whisenhunt out in Arizona

The Arizona Cardinals will wrap up their season Sunday in San Francisco.

Come Monday, Ken Whisenhunt’s tenure as the team’s head coach may end, too.

Barring an upset against the 49ers the Cardinals will finish the season with a 5-11 record — their second such mark in the last three seasons — with many believing the only coach to lead the franchise to the Super Bowl will be out of work.

Included in that group is NFL.com’s Adam Schein, who wrote a piece about what is known as “Black Monday”.

Whisenhunt is a very good coach. If Arizona had held on to beat Pittsburgh in Super Bowl XLIII, there would be a Ken Whisenhunt statue outside of the Cardinals’ stadium. Personally, I wouldn’t fire Whisenhunt.

But this season has been an embarrassment. The quarterback situation is between sad and laughable, and Whisenhunt hasn’t handled it well. The no-show against the Seattle Seahawks was alarming. They are wasting Larry Fitzgerald and a talented defense.

The educated guess: Whisenhunt is let go, and defensive coordinator Ray Horton takes over as head coach.

The common theme from most “experts” is that Whisenhunt is a good coach who has done a poor job the last few years. His first three years in the desert led to 27 wins and two playoff appearences, while his last three have seen the team win just 18 games. In all, Whisenhunt has a 45-50 mark with the Cardinals.